Politics

McSally Could Still Become Senator With Latest Twist

After losing the 2018 midterm elections to her Democrat opponent, Arizona Republican and Senate-hopeful Martha McSally could still have a shot at a Senate seat, according its current occupant, Jon Kyl.

Kyl, who is currently filling the late Senator John McCain’s seat, is set to retire at the end of the year, leaving the state’s governor, Doug Ducey, a chance to appoint a new Senator, leaving a potential opening for McSally.

While Kyl indicated that he wouldn’t try to influence Governor Ducey’s decision, he told CNN during a recent interview that “Martha McSally would be a very good member of the United States Senate, however she got there.”

Arizona law states that the new Senator appointed to fill McCain’s place must be a Republican, the party with which the late McCain was affiliated, which places McSally, a decorated combat veteran, at the top of the ladder.

Defeated Republican Martha McSally could make it to the Senate after all with an appointment to the seat that John McCain held prior to his passing.

It’s currently occupied by Jon Kyl, who had served in the Senate before and retired. He has only committed to doing the job until the end of the year, which would provide Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey with a new opportunity to appoint someone, possibly McSally.

‘Martha McSally would be a very good member of the United States Senate, however she got there,’ Kyl told CNN on Tuesday. ‘And I regret that she didn’t make it in her election.’

He said he wouldn’t get involved in the governor’s decision and would share his opinions with him privately on the future of the seat, while offering his support to the Republican representative who had just suffered a bruising defeat.

McSally did not run for reelection to the House this year so that she could pursue the Senate seat that was being vacated by retiring Sen. Jeff Flake. She fell short in an extremely tight race this week to her Democratic challenger, fellow Rep. Krysten Sinema, in the vote count that dragged on for a week.

Kyl has not said whether he will actually be leaving next month, and Ducey’s office has said publicly that it wants him to stay.

McSally would be a top candidate for the appointment, if he leaves, though, having served in the House. The rules state that the person who fills the seat must be a Republican, because McCain was one.

He insisted in the interview that he did not ‘want to try to try to influence’ Ducey’s decision and his high praise for military veteran ‘have nothing to do with any potential candidate to replace me.’

‘I’m going to be discussing my plans with the governor, and everybody else will be the second to know,’ he said of his plans to retire again or stay in the seat through the special election that will take place in 2020.

Daniel Ruiz, a senior adviser to the governor, told CNN: ‘The governor is hopeful that Kyl will continue to serve in the appointed Senate seat through 2020.

‘At this point we would not speculate on a vacancy that does not exist,’ Ruiz said.

McSally’s appointment could scare off other Republicans who might be interested in running for the seat in two years. A strong seat-filler could ward off big name Democrats considering campaigns, as well.

She would be the second female senator to represent Arizona in the Senate, with Sinema, a three-term congresswoman, becoming the first in the election that took place on November 6.